


We Are The Food And They Are The Hunters

by Marielle



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-03
Updated: 2014-01-12
Packaged: 2018-01-07 06:31:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1116615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marielle/pseuds/Marielle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the death of his parents leave Eren in shock and in desperate need of money, he can’t believe his luck when he is offered a job inside Wall Sina, the capital of the city where money falls from the sky and life flourishes...or so it seems. Once inside, however, Eren bears witness to the corrupt lives of the government and the wealthy as he is forced into a game of deception and the survival of the fittest; a game of life or death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Wall Sina

**Author's Note:**

> Finally got my ao3 account up and running. Haven't written in the longest time and my first fic for snk, so feedback, as always, is welcome. And over my writing break, it seems like my characterization got worse, if possible. Ew. 
> 
> Well, this was just the introductory chapter as I normally don't like to give too much away in the first chapter, so the next should be more interesting. Now that I reread it, it seems kind of dorky, but I thought I might as well post it anyway.
> 
> Warning: A little violence/blood in this chapter, and there will probably be some in every chapter (albeit not like super gory), so don't read if you don't like that kind of stuff.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy.

When the knock on the door came, Eren opened it without hesitation.

His parents always came back around that time. Mikasa, his sister—or rather, his foster sister—was in the kitchen preparing dinner. He had always offered to help, but she refused, stating that he would probably burn himself if he tried.

Which was true; Eren had no doubt that he would’ve definitely hurt himself if he tried.

But she didn’t have to put it like that.

Banned from the kitchen, he had been doing his homework at that time. He was not particularly smart and was average in all subjects. But one thing he prided himself with—probably the _only_ thing he prided himself with—was his determination. So he preserved and he finished it. Never mind that he had to guess on over half of them; the important thing was that he was done, right?

Right after he finished, the knock came. Bounding down the stairs and feeling quite accomplished to have finished his work before dinner, Eren flung the door open quite enthusiastically, forgetting to even check who it was.

It was the military police.

In front of his house.

“It wasn’t me,” he said automatically, earning him a few weird stares and a couple of arched eyebrows.

His first thought was, “ _Oh crap, did they find out it was me who stole Jean’s lunch?_ ” but then thought there was no way that was possible. The only person who would’ve reported him would have been Jean, and while that did sound plausible—he and Jean had never gotten along, and Jean would’ve definitely ratted him over something as small as lunch—the problem was that Jean was _missing_. He had disappeared without a trace a week ago, leaving no clues behind. No note and all his stuff was still in his room. His parents had no clue he was gone until the school called to informed them of his multiple absences.

The police, though they claimed they were still looking for him, basically ruled it as him running away from home and opted to wait until Jean decided to return. But this was _Jean_ they were talking about. Proud, arrogant Jean Kirschtein. There was no way Jean would run away.

But what else would it be?

“Um, hello,” he said when the officers just stared at him. He couldn’t figure out why he was getting this visit. His grades, while they weren’t top notch, were decent; certainly not low enough to merit a visit from the police, though he wasn’t even sure if the police were _allowed_ to visit him because of that. Mikasa was never involved in any troublesome or criminal deeds, so it couldn’t be because of her. His parents obeyed the law and treated their kids well and as far as he knew, while they weren’t exactly filthy rich, they certainly weren’t in any debt either.

So why was the police at his door?

And why did they look so grim?

“Who is this?”

Eren blinked. Wasn’t it _him_ who was supposed to be asking _them_? “Eren Jaeger,” he said slowly.

The three men looked at each other, and then nodded, as if coming to some sort of silent agreement. One of the men stepped forward. “Listen, kid,” he started. Never mind that he was already 18, yet people still called him ‘kid.’ “I’m not a fan of dragging things out,” the man said. “So I’ll tell you straight up. Your parents are dead.”

Eren blinked.

And blinked again.

He was sure he stood there blinking crazily for at least ten minutes before his dry throat managed to cough out a syllable. “ _What?_ ”

“Your parents are dead,” the man repeated, as if Eren hadn’t heard him the first time. “Their bodies were found in the alley an hour ago. Two blows each to the head. It’s safe to assume that they were murdered.”

“M-murdered?” Eren gave out a weak laugh. “ _Dead?_ Why would they be dead?” The words left a bad taste on his tongue, sounding almost foreign to his ears. This had to be a joke.

Maybe it _was_ a joke. Eren’s mind lit up. Maybe this was Jean’s idea of a joke. That bastard would’ve thought it to be funny if he played a trick like this. Well, Eren was going to spoil his plan by not reacting the way Jean wanted him to.

“Eren?” Mikasa had heard the commotion and come up the stairs, an apron still slung around her waist. She had a puzzled look on her face that immediately turned grim when she saw the military police. “What’s going on?”

“Don’t worry about it, Mikasa,” Eren said, trying to close the door, as if silently inviting the military police out of his house. Unfortunately, one of the men stuck out their foot to stop him, so he ended up just looking like an idiot. “They were just leaving.”

Unfortunately, they didn’t seem to understand and they simply stood there.

“They were just leaving,” Eren repeated himself, and he gave them his best glare, one that even made Jean Kirschtein tremble. It worked as he expected; the men looked momentarily stunned, so Eren took the opportunity to slam the door in their faces and locked the door quickly.

He could probably get in trouble for that.

Yeah.

Why didn’t he ever think before he acted?

“Eren?” Mikasa asked, her voice quiet. “What did they want?”

Eren turned toward her, smiling weakly. “Nothing. Just some prank.”

“Eren—”

“Let’s go, Mikasa. Mom and Dad will be coming home soon. Here, I’ll come keep you company.”

Eren pushed Mikasa back into the kitchen as he sat down in the dining room, staring at the clock. His parents were fine. Who would even _want_ to murder them in the first place? They didn’t have anything valuable. They were law abiding citizens. They didn’t stand out in any way. People didn’t just _drop dead_.

They were fine.

They had to be.

Five minutes.

Ten minutes.

They were fine.

Mikasa and Eren ate dinner together. Few words were exchanged. Eren’s eyes remained glued on the clock. Two plates sat untouched.

An hour late.

Two hours late.

Eren yawned, lying his head down on the table. Mikasa had fallen asleep already, her quiet snores filling the otherwise silent room. The food on the table had long gone cold, but neither Mikasa nor Eren had made any move to throw it out.

They were fine.

The three words echoed in Eren’s mind as the clock’s hour hand made its way full circle. Light flooded into the room. It was morning already.

Eren’s parents did not come home.

* * *

 

Eren trudged through the street, feeling the cold winter wind bite sharply at his cheeks.

If everything had gone his way, he would’ve been perfectly fine holing up in his room and crying to himself. He didn’t know what was worse, the moment he had come to accept that what the military police had told him was true, or the moment when he had to tell Mikasa.

Mikasa had run off into her room, refusing to come out. Eren knew how much in pain she was; after all, she had already lost her real parents once before. Eren was perfectly fine letting her lock herself in her room since he had refused to leave his as well.

However, after a week, there soon came the glaring issue.

Money.

Or rather, the lack of.

Had he been living alone, he would’ve managed just fine. He could survive on the little money his parents had left him. There were certain tricks he could employ to weasel for enough money to get a little piece of bread a day.

However, he had Mikasa to take care of.

In a way, it helped him. In worrying about money and food, he took his mind off the death of his parents. He was too busy running around to be preoccupied, and though Mikasa had not done it on purpose, Eren secretly thanked her for helping him keep his mind occupied. If that hadn’t happen, he would’ve become a sobbing wreck in his bedroom.

And so, every afternoon, he was on the streets, trying desperately to find a place that would hire him.

It was stupid. No one wanted a schoolboy with no experience, but how exactly was he supposed to get experience if he needed a job to do so? Experience came with jobs and jobs came with experience. Who came up with such a stupid cycle?

Eren sighed. Another day without work. Another day where their parents’ savings had gone down. Another day of failure. Eren turned around, ready to trudge home where he would inform Mikasa of the bad news—though he didn’t know if she even heard him—and go sulk in his room and drown in self pity.

“Hey, wait!” Someone called out. Eren kept walking. It wouldn’t have been for him, anyway. Other than Mikasa, who was undoubtedly still in the house, there was no one left who would have called out to him.

“Hey!” Suddenly, a hand clamped down on Eren’s shoulder. Eren turned around and glared, and the man quickly retracted his hand as if he had been burned, although he made no move to walk away.

It was one of the men that had been at his door a week ago. Eren spun around and tried to walk away. Not that he cared if he was arrested at his point, but his stupid pride wouldn’t let him go down without at least a fight.

“Hey, I’m talking to you!” The man caught up, grabbing Eren’s arm. “You...I’m sorry about your parents.”

Eren didn’t want to hear this. He had already heard dozens of fake sympathies over the past week. They meant nothing. Apologies and condolences did not bring anyone back to life. If anything, they made him feel worse. He tried to pull his hand out of the man’s grasp. The man, unfortunately, didn’t let go.

“My name is Marlowe,” the man said. Eren didn’t give a shit what his name was. The man—Marlowe—seemed to sense this, as he hurriedly continued before Eren could walk away again. “I...I saw you walking around earlier. Are you looking for a job?”

Eren remained silent.

“I haven’t personally been in there myself, but my boss said that inside Wall Sina, they were hiring. I don’t know what kind of work they have, but my boss seemed optimistic about it.” Marlowe let go of Eren’s wrist. “Just...if you wanted to check it out or something. It seems like they pay a lot.”

Marlowe gave him a jerky nod and then quickly walked away before Eren had a chance to speak. Not that he would’ve said anything, anyway. His mind was currently wrapped around the job offer.

Work, inside of Wall Sina? He had to be dreaming. Unlike the middle class environment of Wall Maria, Wall Sina held riches of the capital and the people living inside it. Rumor had it that a person inside made as much in one day as a person in Wall Maria made in their entire lifetime. That, of course, was a tale that had been spread around; not much was known by outsiders of what went on inside Wall Sina. However, it certainly seemed plausible; where else would all the money be going? It certainly wasn’t pouring into the communities of Wall Maria.

Eren thought about it for awhile, and then realized there was nothing _to_ think about. Who in their right mind would turn down a job offer in Wall Sina? He would go check it out tomorrow. Even if it was a lie, the worst thing that would happen to him would be his damaged pride.

As he walked home, not _happy_ , but feeling a lot better than he had all week to have something productive to occupy himself with, he silently thanked the Marlowe guy and almost felt sorry for slamming the door in his face.

Almost.

* * *

 

And thus, bright and early the next day, Eren Jaeger set off for the capital, Wall Sina.

He had informed Mikasa, through the door, that he might have found work and he was going to check it out. He had no idea of Mikasa heard him, or if she was even awake. Slightly putout as he wanted to speak to her once before he left, he nevertheless bid her farewell as he headed out the door.

He had to be strong for her. Once he got enough money to last them for awhile, then, and only then, would he allow himself to mourn. It would be no use to his parents if both their children died of depression, and Eren knew that his father, especially, would disapprove of him sulking around all day.

Eren headed toward the wall, which was hard to miss as it literally sat in the middle of town. Eren always thought it was weird that the marketplace would be cut off like that, but the people inside were the ones with the power, so there was nothing really to be done.

Two guards stood there, holding their swords. While it looked like minimal security, they had cannons pointed at you from the top of the wall. Which they didn’t hesitate to inform you about every five seconds. And the threat worked. No matter how appealing the luxurious capital seemed, no one had tried to sneak in yet.

“Um,” Eren said. He hadn’t really come up with a story yet, so he decided to tell the truth. “I-I heard that there was a job opening inside, so I came to see...” As soon as the words left his mouth, Eren realized how foolish he sounded. It sounded more like he was fibbing than anything else.

The two guards looked at each other, and Eren prepared himself to get scolded when, surprisingly, they nodded at him.

“Go ahead.”

Eren blinked, surprised by the lack of resistance. Was it _that_ easy to get admitted into the capital? If that was the case, why hadn’t anyone else tried it before?

“Um, do you know what kind of work it’s going to be?” Eren asked. Maybe it was something like prostitution.

One of the guards shrugged. “Don’t know, son. We’ve been told that they need young men, but other than that, they don’t give much information to the soldiers working outside.”

That Marlowe guy had been clueless to the details of the job as well. That should have set off warning bells in Eren’s head.

However, when the two guards opened the door for him, he couldn’t just _refuse_. It was like dangling a briefcase of a million dollars in front of him, and then telling him to be cautious because he didn’t know who it was from.

Who cares? Money was money, and he needed it desperately.

However, as soon as he passed the door, something felt off. It was bright and early in the morning, yet it was fairly dark inside. The torches that hung on the walls were the only source of light in the otherwise dim tunnel.

Eren was slightly confused to his surroundings—he had expected loud parties and colorful scenery—but when he turned around to ask the guards, Eren heard the door close.

Basically, the only path he could take now was forwards. Slightly uncertain, Eren began to walk.

He didn’t have to wander around for long. A man with a rather large beard spotted him and began heading his way, smiling rather creepily.

“Hello, hello! Are you the newest recruit?” The man didn’t give Eren a chance to respond. “My name is Kitts Verman and I am here to answer any questions you might have.” Eren opened his mouth, certainly not having a lack of questions, but the man cut him off again. “Of course, you’d like to see the arena first, right? That should answer all your questions.”

_Arena?_

“Come on, now. It’s fairly easy to get lost.” Kitts Verman gave him a leery grin, before turning around and heading down the tunnel. Eren hesitated slightly, but then quickly followed; he couldn’t go backwards, anyway, and he didn’t fancy getting lost in this dark, murky environment.

They walked in silence for awhile. Five minutes? Ten minutes? An hour? Eren had lost track a long time ago. After awhile, however, he was certain that they were simply going in circles; the torches on the wall looked too similar for them not to be the same. The ceilings looked identical. The cobwebs resembled each other.

“Um, excuse me,” Eren said, but then immediately closed his mouth. Kitts Verman had stopped in front of a huge door that looked way too fancy for its environment. Golden swirls decorated the ivory door, and Eren couldn’t help but gap at it and admire its appeal.

“Here we are,” Kitts Verman said, a little too cheerfully, almost like a little kid before opening a present. “Try not to get too excited, alright?”

Before Eren could ask what he meant by that, Kitts Verman opened the door and light flooded out of the room. Eren let out a surprised grunt as he was temporarily blinded. However, though his sight had been taken away from him, he could hear quite well what was going on.

There was a lot of cheering. Loud cheering. Almost obnoxious cheering.

Eren blinked several times as his eyes adjusted. He was met with the sight of rows and rows of people. It was an _actual_ arena, a stadium completely packed with cheering fans wearing elaborate hats and furry scarves.

What were they watching? A ball game? Some sort of activity? Eren glanced towards the center.

 _‘Maybe it’s prostitution_ ,’ his own words echoed in his brain. What he saw next, however, made him wish that it _had_ been just prostitution; it would’ve been much better than this.

In the center of the arena, two men stood. At least, Eren assumed it was two men. One of them was standing, and although he was quite far away, Eren could tell that he was on the shorter side. His eyes were narrowed and he was expressionless as he gripped something in his hand.

On the ground was the other man, a puddle of blood gathering near his arm. His face was bloody and from the way he was writhing, it was clear that he was both still alive and in very much pain. He gave a choke sob, but that only seemed to delight the crowd further, as the cheering grew louder.

With a jolt, Eren realized that the thing the short man had in his hand was a knife.

And that very knife curved downward and made contact with the man’s neck.

Splat. He was dead.

Thunderous applause could be heard, and the cheering snapped Eren out of his daze. He felt his breakfast—though it had been minimal—climbing up his throat again, threatening to spill out.

What was this? What was this place? Was this really the capital? Did that man just _die_? Why wasn’t anyone helping him? Why were they still cheering, as if enjoying a movie or a nice stroll in the park? What was with this jovial atmosphere?

And there was blood everywhere. Oh god. The stench of it filled the air. Eren wanted to vomit.

Eren took a step backwards and hit something solid. That solid thing was Kitts Verman. Eren had forgotten he was even still there.

“W...what is this?” Eren managed to choke out.

Kitts Verman gave him a wide smile. “Welcome to Wall Sina.”


	2. We Meet Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren runs into a couple of new faces, as well as a couple of old ones, as he tries to get himself comfortable with situation he is suddenly thrown in. However, Eren's adventure inside Wall Sina has just begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's so late. I'm so tired. I've got so many test. Why am I even writing. This is ridiculous. Why do I love snk so much. So many mysteries.  
> More boring intro stuff here. It'll start picking up next chapter, along with the official appearance of Levi, so look forward to that.  
> Thanks to all who read and left kudos. As usual, I hope you enjoy it, and comments and feedback are always appreciated.  
> Not edited because I value my sleep over that.

To be honest, everything that happened afterwards seemed like a dream to Eren.

He had stood there for what seems like eons, staring in horror and shock as the man’s body was carted off, as the blood was left there, still wet, as the next pair of fighters entered the arena. He could vaguely remember the fighting, a little thought registering in his mind of the dread that he would have to watch the same scene happen all over again.

Death.

Blood.

Murder.

However, as soon as one of the men gained the advantage, the other quickly threw up his left hand, his fingers pointed in an ‘L’ shape. The audience booed loudly, obviously anticipating more bloodshed and gore after the previous show, but the victor mainly nodded his head in acceptance, putting away his knife and walking out of the arena.

So it wasn’t exactly a slaughterhouse. Not that this was much better, but it seemed to alleviate Eren a little bit that it wasn’t just complete murder and madness. At least the fighters didn’t go into the arena thinking that it was either to kill or to be killed. They were still allowed to back out should they want to.

No amount of money was worth losing your life over.

Kitts Verman soon grew bored as the fights grew significantly less bloody and began dragging Eren deeper into the capital, or at least that’s what it seemed like to him. They were completely underground; Eren couldn’t see the outside at all. However, he had passed through Wall Sina, so there was no other place he could be.

But wasn’t the capital supposed to be a prosperous community where everyone loved everyone else and the wealth poured from the streets? A place where no one was hungry, and everyone was kind because there was no reason not to be? Wasn’t it the dream world where everyone strived for, and to make it inside the wall made you a very successful person?

Eren had absolutely no answers and a pile of questions formulating in his brain. He tried to sort them out for awhile as he walked, but to no avail, so he ended up just leaving them jumbled up in his head.

Did the government know about these fights?

Who were these people who came to watch them?

Did anyone outside know about them?

The last question Eren could reason out by himself. There was no way that anyone outside of Wall Sina knew what was taking place inside. He himself had never heard about these gladiator battles before, and the military police outside the walls seemed clueless as well.

“Here’s your home,” Kitts Verman cackled, jolting Eren out of his thoughts. His _home_? He had completely forgotten, after seeing the arena, that he seemed to be _stuck_ here. At least, while he was walking out, he hadn’t seen any exits. What about Mikasa? What would happen to her? He came here to get her money so she could lead a successful life, and now, instead, he had managed to leave her all by herself!

“Enjoy your stay,” Kitts Verman smiled gleefully at him. “Try to get along with everyone and stay out of trouble. He gets very mad when blood is spilled in his space. He likes cleanness, that one.”

“Who?” Eren asked, but Kitts Verman didn’t respond and merely hobbled off. Eren considered chasing him, but what good would that do? It seemed darker over there, and he wasn’t sure if he could manage to find his way back if he got lost.

Eren braced himself and started to open the door, afraid that knives and swords would be flung at his head, when the door suddenly flew open.

“I told you I didn’t take it!” A feminine voice whined loudly. “It wasn’t me, Connie!”

Eren blinked as a girl with brown hair suddenly appeared before him, her mouth stuffed with food. Behind her, a very short guy with grey hair scowled at her, but his mouth was twitching up in the corners to show that he wasn’t really angry.

 _‘Is this the same place as that arena?’_ Eren thought to himself, rather bewildered. Instead of the previous menacing atmosphere, this one seemed almost...jolly.

“Sasha, I can see the evidence in your mouth,” the man—Connie, Eren reminded himself—teased as he made a rather feeble attempt to poke the girl’s cheek. She—Sasha—easily ducked away.

“What evidence?” Sasha asked, chewing madly. “In my mouth? This certainly isn’t bread or anything.”

“Sasha—” Connie cut off abruptly as he noticed Eren for the first time. “Whoa, when did you get here?”

“Whaaa, another person!” Sasha said excitedly, grabbing Eren’s hand. “Welcome, welcome! I’m always happy to make new friends!”

“She’s happier that she’ll have another person to steal food from.”

“Who, me?” Sasha asked innocently, though Eren could see her hand trail instinctively to her pocket, where he could see the tip of a piece of bread sticking out. “I would never do anything like that! It’s not like I’ve ever stolen food from you or anything, Connie.”

Connie sighed, and then faced Eren with a rather goofy grin on his face. “I’m Connie Springer,” he introduced himself. “I’ve been assigned as Sasha’s babysitter to make sure she doesn’t steal too much food.”

“I don’t steal food,” Sasha responded automatically.

“Welcome inside Wall Sina,” Connie said, ignoring her completely. “It’s nothing like you had expected, right?”

“I...yeah.”

Of course this wasn’t what he was expecting after seeing what transpired in the arena.

There was no blood.

There was no fighting.

And on top of that, no matter how dysfunctional, the two of them seemed to be on friendly terms.

Eren was about to ask one of the million questions he had when the door opened again, and a small, rather frail, blonde haired boy stepped out. He had a rather round face, looked quite petite, and was altogether very familiar.

“ _Armin?”_

The boy blinked a couple of times. “ _Eren?”_

“What are you doing here?” Despite his environment, Eren couldn’t help but feel significantly happier at seeing a familiar face. He and Armin had been very good childhood friends, the three with them—along with Mikasa—spending much of their days together. Armin had always fantasized going into Wall Sina, feeling rather oppressed in their hometown, so the two of them had made a promise that one day they would go inside together.

Armin had moved away because of his parents’ job after that, so Eren had never expected them to fulfill their promise, and certainly he had never thought that their promise would have been fulfilled like this.

“I—” Armin looked down.

“What do you mean?” Connie said loudly, as if trying to cover up the awkward silence. “What else would be doing here? Does this look like a tourist spot to you?”

“It is,” Armin piped. “For the audience, that is.”

Connie waved him off. “Everyone here is here to fight. If you can’t fight, you put up a show. Don’t give up. The audience loves the underdog who tries but obviously can’t win. You get more money if they like you.”

So they did earn money in this place, except what exactly was there to buy with the money? Extra food? Blankets? Another day to live? They were trapped in this arena. If only there was some way he could send his earnings back to Mikasa...

...if he could get earnings.

That would mean he would have to go out into the arena.

He hadn’t even thought of that.

Eren paled considerably.

He was so painfully uncoordinated that during physical education class in school, he was always that one awkward kid who managed to trip over his own feet and break his nose on his own knee, getting sent to the medics on the first day.

Was he supposed to fight with his skills? He couldn’t manage to hit a sleeping elephant even if he tried. His fist would probably end up boomeranging in midair and hitting his face instead.

“Are you alright, Eren?” Armin asked in his usual gentle tone. Armin, though he had always been rather fragile and Eren had long lost count of how many battles he had jumped in to save Armin, had always been a kind soul who always worried about someone else so purely and wholly.

It seemed very out of place for such an innocent existence to be in a place like this.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Eren mumbled, rubbing his head tiredly with his hand. “I just haven’t had the time to process this all yet. To be honest, I still feel like this is just a dream and I’m going to wake up any time now.”

Armin shot him a look of understanding, but it was Connie who spoke. “It all depends on your first impression, really,” he said. “Kitts Verman is in charge of bringing the newbies to observe a couple of matches before they are brought here. They usually purposely show a more violent one to set a high standard, but you won’t have to kill anyone.”

“And if you feel like you’re about to be killed, just raise your left hand in the ‘L’ shape!” Sasha piped helpfully, stuffing an entire roll of bread into her mouth. Connie shot her a look, but she either didn’t see it or chose to ignore it. “The audience doesn’t like it, but at least you get to live, and another day to live means another day to eat!”

“If someone ever wrote a story about you, you’d be one of those shallow, perfect main characters whose entire plotline would revolve around eating.”

Sasha ignored him.

“B-but...” Eren thought back. “I saw someone get killed...”

They instantly all looked at him. Obviously, it was quite unusual. “Who?” Armin was the one who inquired.

Eren shook his head. “I...I don’t know. I couldn’t see his face because it was so marred by...” Eren swallowed, pushing the image out of his head. “The other guy, the one who killed him, had black hair and an undercut, and he looked kind of short—”

Armin instantly clamped a hand down on Eren’s mouth and looked around fearfully, as if a monster would pop out from behind the corner and eat them. Connie’s usual smile was replaced by a grimace and even Sasha’s eyes darted back and forth anxiously.

“Don’t say that!” Armin whispered in Eren’s ear. “What if he happens to walk by and hear you?”

“Who?” Eren’s voice was muffled by Armin’s hand.

 “Levi,” Connie explained, frowning slightly. “He’s the strongest fighter here and he earns more money than all of us combined for just one fight. He’s a lone wolf, though, and rarely interacts with other people.” He frowned. “Though he’ll kill you if you insult his size.”

“Levi’s fights are scary,” Sasha said. “Since he’s the strongest, he makes a lot of enemieis, most of who are too prideful to surrender. That’s why his kill count is so high.”

Eren didn’t want to know how high ‘high’ was.

“Levi...” Eren repeated, musing. So that short killer had a name. Not that he cared. Even if the other guy hadn’t surrendered, that didn’t give Levi the okay to kill him. There was no excuse for that. “Don’t you think that...”

“...do I even want to know, Eren? No, I don’t. Please stop.”

Eren pondered slightly, and, ignoring Armin, said, “Doesn’t Levi sound kind of like a girl’s name?”

“EREN! Do you want to get killed?!” Armin asked, a rather panicked expression on his face. “How does Levi sound remotely like a girl’s name to you?”

Connie snorted. “The only one who has a girl’s name is you, Eren.”

Eren looked pointedly at him. “I don’t know. Connie sounds pretty girly to me.”

“Sasha has a girl’s name too,” Armin supplied helpfully.

“I _am_ a girl!” Sasha said, looking mildly offended.

“Couldn’t tell,” Connie said, glancing at the way she was stuffing her mouth. Sasha looked like whether or not she was willing to sacrifice a piece of bread to throw at Connie’s head when the door suddenly opened.

“You guys are so noisy,” a male voice scowled, stepping out of the room. “Why are you all making a racket so early in the morning? Connie, you’re supposed to be watching over Sasha, not riling her up.”

Eren gaped as the figure came into view. Tall. Very ugly. Super ugly, in fact. And stupid. And annoying as hell. And completely, utterly intolerable. His mortal enemy that he had never thought he would ever see again. Then again, he had thought the same thing about Armin as well.

“ _Jean_?” Eren choked out.

Jean looked over at him, his typical sneer on his face, but it was quickly replaced by a look of surprise. “No way,” he said. “ _Eren Jaeger?_ ”

“The queen of all girly names appears,” Connie mumbled under his breath, earning him a glare from Jean. “You’re oddly connected with the people here, aren’t you?” he directed at Eren.

It _was_ weird, Eren decided as the moment of surprise passed, and he and Jean resumed their usual arguing ways, hurling insults at each other. Armin tried to play the peacemaker, but the two of them just ignored him and he eventually gave up. Connie and Sasha were watching from the side, pretending to give commentary to an invisible audience.

He knew two people here, and he had already made two new friends. It was quite easy for Eren to forget the environment that he was in and think that he had returned to just being another schoolboy, getting in a fight with Jean before school started.

Now, if only Mikasa randomly appeared as well, he could convince himself that he was merely living his ordinary life rather than stuck in some underground inside the capital.

* * *

Eren quickly tossed that thought out of his head when he got to the living quarters.

The room was quite filthy, moss covering the walls. A ball of black floated through the air, attaching itself to Eren’s face. He yelped and quickly smacked his face. The action earned him several strange stares, but at least he got the slimy thing off. It was probably floating around somewhere, waiting to attack another victim.

The room was a decent size, but it was dotted by at least a dozen beds. When he first entered, some people looked over at him, but they quickly lost interest and resumed their activities. A few were conversing with each other, but most of them sat in silence, gazing at the wall.

The quietness was very eerie, and it made Eren’s skin crawl.

“Your bed is next to mine,” Armin said. He caught Eren patting the the (nonexistent) mattress and grimacing. “You’ll get used to it. It hurts quite a bit the first week, but you’ll lose all feeling in your back quickly enough, so it’s not that bad.”

Very reassuring, Armin.

Armin’s words reminded him that he was stuck here for awhile. His previously cheery mood soured instantly, and he sat down heavily on the bed. He was pretty sure it was illegal to live in such an insanitary place. However, if the government was really the ones sponsoring this, laws were useless, anyways.

If the government was sponsoring this...

What kind of government willingly sent their citizens into gladiator fights for the public’s enjoyment?

What kind of people would even watch these fights?

“How do you sleep here?” Eren asked, looking around. A lot of the men had very huge muscles and looked like they could knock Eren out with just a pinky. “Don’t you ever get scared that you’ll get killed?”

“Oh, that’s why you have groups,” Armin explained. “Half the group stays awake while the other half sleeps. Half the group can fight better than just one person if protection is needed, and it also prevents betrayal from that one person.” Armin shrugged. “It’s not good to doubt your friends, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

“Does...everyone live here?” He thought about that short guy. Levi. Eren didn’t want to be in a room with someone who had his hands stained in blood. But then again, he didn’t know if anyone else in this room had killed another human being. It was impossible to tell just by looking.

Maybe Connie had. Maybe Sasha had. Maybe Jean, that arrogant git, had.

Maybe even _Armin_ had.

No. He couldn’t think like that. There was no way that sweet, innocent Armin would do something like that. Besides, he had always needed Eren and Mikasa to protect him when the three of them were little. Even if he tried to kill someone, there was no way someone could be murdered by someone as fragile and delicate as he was.

“No, this is for the lowest class,” Armin said. “There are three classes here. We’re third class. It’s mainly composed of the new fighters,” Armin gestured towards Eren, “and the weak, like me.”

Eren frowned at Armin’s rather pessimistic view of himself. Ever since he was a child, Armin was smaller than the other boys and was always a subject of bullying. Because of that, he had developed a rather low self confidence that surfaced sometimes.

“Some people make it to the second class,” Armin continued. “About one fourth of the third class move up. Their living conditions and food are considerably better than ours, but it’s still not the best. They’re also more social. I guess after you survive here for awhile, you start to get used to it and open up to others.

“And then at the very top is the first class. There are less than five people who actually manage to make it up there, and they’re all...” Armin paused, trying to think of the right word. “...rather unique.”

“Is that shor-Levi in that group?” Eren asked.

“Yeah. Connie mentioned before that he’s the strongest fighter. That’s true. Many people try to enlist his help when they first get here, still trying to find a way out of the underground. He never helps anyone. It doesn’t seem like he has strong motivation to leave here.”

Eren pondered quietly. For him to work his way up to the top of the food chain meant that he had to have been here for quite a bit of time. Perhaps in that time he spent here, he discovered the capital underground was a much better place than outside of Wall Sina.

He probably enjoyed sitting on his high throne and having power over people and being able to flaunt his power by killing and making a lot of money.

“There’s no way to escape, so I wouldn’t recommend trying,” Armin said after a moment of silence. “I mean, if you want to, I’ll help, but a lot of people have tried already, so the likelihood of finding a new loophole is extremely small.”

“Is this,” Eren gestured around him, “the very bottom of the underground?”

Armin nodded. “Yeah. The gate inside the Wall leads straight to here. The door can’t be opened from the inside, and it’s very hard just to make it to the door, and you’d have to have incredible luck for the gate to be open then. Not many people come in.”

“Can’t everyone just camp out near the Wall entrance?”

“They take attendance at the beginning of dinner,” Armin explained. “If you’re not there, they have some kind of system of tracking you down. If they catch you, and they always have, it’s torture and public humiliation.”

Eren gulped.

“I’ve heard the second and first class floors are much more spacious. They’re above us.” Armin shrugged. “Not many people have been invited up there, though. The only time you really get to see the upper classes are during meal periods and if you’re unlucky enough to be paired against one in a fight.”

“Oi, Armin!” Jean said, walking over with a scowl on his face. “I’ve been listening for awhile, but it really doesn’t get any less boring. Don’t you think that’s enough lecturing for the day? It’s not as if any of the information is getting through Jaeger’s thick skull.”

Eren instantly shot up. “You—”

“Shut it, Jaeger. I’m not interested in hearing your brainless yelling.” Jean turned to Armin, a significantly more pleasant expression on his face. Eren glowered at him, but he either didn’t notice or chose to ignore him. “Connie’s fighting. Do you want to go watch?”

“Connie?” Eren looked around. Indeed, both he and Sasha were gone from their beds. Eren hadn’t even notice them leave. It seemed like he had spent more time talking with Armin than he had realized.

“Are you coming, Eren?” Armin asked.

Partially because Jean looked like he wanted him to decline and Eren wanted to piss him off, and partly because he was slightly concerned over Connie’s wellbeing, Eren nodded. “Sure.”

Jean glared at him, and then turned to Armin. “Come on. Let’s go see if he’s still in one piece.”

* * *

Connie did indeed still have all his limbs still attached to his body when the trio arrived. In fact, his fight was over and he was now standing in one of the upper rows of the arena with Sasha.

“How’d you do?” Jean asked. Eren took the moment to look Connie over. He had a couple of scratches, including one on his cheek that Sasha was tending to, but he seemed relatively unscathed considering that he had just been in a fight.

“The answer’s the same no matter how many times you ask,” Connie mumbled. “I don’t get why they keep pairing me up with a second class. There are plenty of third class people to go around.”

“You know you’d never be able to beat me, Connie,” Jean said haughtily.

“Have you even looked at your fight record? It’s all full of zeros.”

“Yeah, in the _loss_ column.”

They were conserving so normally it was almost scary. The fact that Connie could go through the arena and still talk normally like nothing had happened. How he could get bruised up and not pay any attention to his injuries.

And also, the fact that someone could actually speak to Jean normally was downright terrifying.

“Alright! All done!” Sasha stood back to examine her handiwork. “Maybe I should’ve left it? You looked manlier with your bruises.”

“Hey! I’m always manly!”

“From a guy who’s so short and has absolutely no muscle, that sounds more like wishful thinking than anything else,” Jean snorted, ducking away as Connie made an attempt to smack him.

Eren opened his mouth to comment about _Jean’s_ muscle—or rather, the lack of—when the audience exploded in cheers. Swiveling around, Eren glanced down at the arena as a figure came into view.

“It’s that shortie!” Eren exclaimed. Armin groaned, but didn’t say anything; he had long accepted that Eren _did_ have a rather thick skull that was hard to drill stuff into, and it was rather hard to correct his habit of speaking before thinking.

“If Levi’s a shortie, what does that make Connie?” Jean scoffed.

“Midget!” Sasha laughed.

“Dwarf?” Armin added.

“Negligible,” Jean finished, smirking.

Connie rolled his eyes, but Eren didn’t miss the way he sat up straighter, as if to make himself grow taller. “Why am I the only normal one here?”

As Sasha and Jean continued to pick on him, Eren glanced over to the other side of the arena as the huge gate was opened. He wondered what kind of opponent Levi would be facing. Would he surrender when he had to? Or would he be someone who would rather die than sacrifice his pride?

A large figure came into view and Eren’s eyes widened. He could sense the evil aura even from up in the audience. The audience seemed to be delighted by its appearance, while Eren was completely horrified.

“I...is that...a... _human_?”

“Jaeger, your IQ is off the charts,” Jean mocked. “I’ve always known you were dumb, but are you also blind now? How does that resemble a human in any way?”

“It...has eyes? And hands?” However, Eren knew it wasn’t a human. No humans could be so big, so tall, so intimidating...

“That’s not a human, Eren,” Armin supplied helpfully.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Jean mumbled under his breath.

Armin ignored him. “The most common fights here are man versus man. However, the audience gets tired of seeing the same battles day after day, so they add in some extra things to spice up the upper class battles.”

That ‘extra thing’ looked like it could flatten Levi easily with its hand.

The audience began shouting as the bell rung, signaling the beginning of the fight. Things like, ‘ _Beat it up, Levi!’_ and _‘Eat him!’_

 _Eat him_...

It was almost as if throwing a person into a cage with a 10M tall lion and telling the two to fight.

Eren now understood why only the upper class had to battle these creatures. They weren’t human. They didn’t know the definition of surrender. They didn’t comprehend what they were doing. There was no easy way out. In this fight, it really was to kill or be killed.

And judging by the size of that thing, the latter option seemed much more plausible.

“That,” Armin said slowly, “is what we call ‘a titan.’” 

 

 

 


End file.
